Newsletter Archive

In only its first year, the Hong Kong-based Initium news website has attracted 3 million unique users a month, launched an app that’s been downloaded 150,000 times, and hired 70 staffers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the United States. It’s among some independent new media sites in the former British colony that are testing the limits of Chinese press freedom, which is more restrictive for their mainland counterparts. The rise of these new sites comes as traditional media outlets face increased financial and political pressure – two issues often interlinked in Hong Kong.

With high unfavorability ratings for both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, third-party candidates are getting a closer look. New polls suggest standard-bearers for the Libertarian and Green parties – Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, respectively – have doubled the level of support they had in the 2012 presidential election.

The ancient city of Timbuktu retains almost mythological status as a remote outpost in northern Mali, an area besieged by Islamist militants in 2012 and still under threat. A new website, Postcards from Timbuktu, romanticizes the city – and delivers economic salvation to the former tour guide who co-created the site. He and other out-of-work guides share half of the $10 fee for filling out and mailing the cards. Some also goes to the American co-founder in Bamako and, through postage, to the local post office.

Danger lurks in Laos. About a third of the 2.2 million tons of bombs dropped there by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War never detonated. When Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S president to visit Laos in September, he’s expected to announce increased funding for dealing with the ordnance and injured victims of explosions. As VOA reports from Xieng Khouang, more than 15,000 people who’ve survived detonations require ongoing care – for lost limbs and other injuries – but have few options.

They just don’t buy it. Hindu groups in India oppose the introduction of a Sharia-compliant international bank, saying it should not be allowed to operate in a secular country. The Islamic Corporation for Development plans to set up its first Indian branch in Ahmedabad, a metropolis in the northwestern state of Gujarat. One Hindu leader said he fears customers would be pressured to convert to Islam to get loans or favorable interest rates. An ICD official disagrees, saying that “across the world, most of the recipients of Islamic finance are non-Muslim.”

A new distillery opens every month in South Africa, which has become something of a gin-making Mecca. It now represents 5 percent of the world market. Cheers!